Tools

Ruthie Foster

When: Fri., Sept. 16, 8 p.m. 2011
Price: $26-30

Abundantly optimistic folks such as Texas gospel and blues vocalist Ruthie Foster will trick you into thinking life is a pep rally for the journey to heaven, but the fact is that some of us just aren't capable of fathoming divinity. This is why we have the blues, which is what happens when gospel music turns itself inside out and reveals all of our hidden, unholy corrosion. Foster's delivery comes without all of the hell-raising; she's as much of a paragon of soul-purging as the esteemed Bettye LaVette, and on her recent CD Live at Antone's, her talents span from the devout lines of folk music to the pious undertones of reggae. If you're one of those people hollering that the blues is dead, then let Foster at least narrate its afterlife. —Eric Tullis